27-letter words containing b, i, o, s

introgressive-hybridization — the introduction of genes from one species into the gene pool of another species, occurring when matings between the two produce fertile hybrids.
it never rains but it pours — You can use the expression it never rains but it pours to mean that several unfortunate events often happen at the same time.
joint and several liability — legal responsibility for the whole of a debt for which you are only partially responsible
knowbot information service — (networking, information science) (KIS) Also known as netaddress. The Knowbot Information Service (KIS) provides a uniform user interface to a variety of remote directory services such as whois, finger, X.500, MCIMail. By submitting a single query to KIS, a user can search a set of remote white pages services and see the results of the search in a uniform format. There are several interfaces to the KIS service including electronic mail and telnet. Another KIS interface imitates the Berkeley whois command. KIS consists of two distinct types of modules which interact with each other (typically across a network) to provide the service. One module is a user agent module that runs on the KIS mail host machine. The second module is a remote server module (possibly on a different machine) that interrogates various database services across the network and provides the results to the user agent module in a uniform fashion. Interactions between the two modules can be via messages between Knowbots or by actual movement of Knowbots. There are electronic mail interfaces for KIS at the hosts cnri.reston.va.us and sol.bucknell.edu. Send a message containing just the word "man" to <[email protected]> or <[email protected]>. Telnet: info.cnri.reston.va.us port 185.
laban dance notation system — a system of movement notation, using symbols on a staff, that records the parts of a dancer's body, direction inspace, dynamics, and tempo for all kinds of movement: used to record and reconstruct forms of dance and movement.
management information base — (networking) (MIB) A database of managed objects acessed by network management protocols. An SNMP MIB is a set of parameters which an SNMP management station can query or set in the SNMP agent of a network device (e.g. router). Standard minimal MIBs have been defined, and many hardware (and certain software, e.g. DBMS) providers have developed private MIBs in ASN.1 format allowing them to be compiled for use in a Network Management System. In theory, any SNMP manager can talk to any SNMP agent with a properly defined MIB. See also client-server model.
mongolian people's republic — a republic in E central Asia, in N Mongolia. About 600,000 sq. mi. (1,500,000 sq. km). Capital: Ulan Bator.
monoalphabetic substitution — a system of substitution that uses only one cipher alphabet in a cryptogram so that each plaintext letter is always represented by the same cipher.
monoamine oxidase inhibitor — any of various substances, as isocarboxazid and phenelzine, that block enzymatic breakdown of certain monoamine neurotransmitters: used to treat severe depression. Abbreviation: MAOI.
national insurance benefits — benefits provided as a result of payments to national insurance, such a state pension, sick pay, etc
not like the look of sth/sb — If you don't like the look of something or someone, you feel that they may be dangerous or cause problems.
on the coat-tails of sb/sth — If you do something on the coat-tails of someone else, you are able to do it because of the other person's success, and not because of your own efforts.
open distributed processing — (standard) (ODP) An attempt to standardise an OSI application layer communications architecture. ODP is a natural progression from OSI, broadening the target of standardisation from the point of interconnection to the end system behaviour. The objective of ODP is to enable the construction of distributed systems in a multi-vendor environment through the provision of a general architectural framework that such systems must conform to. One of the cornerstones of this framework is a model of multiple viewpoints which enables different participants to observe a system from a suitable perspective and a suitable level of abstraction.
polyalphabetic substitution — a system of substitution that mixes together a number of cipher alphabets in a cryptogram so that each plaintext letter is represented by a cipher that repeatedly changes.
polymorphic lambda-calculus — (language, types) (Or "second order typed lambda-calculus", "System F", "Lambda-2"). An extension of typed lambda-calculus allowing functions which take types as parameters. E.g. the polymorphic function "twice" may be written: twice = /\ t . \ (f :: t -> t) . \ (x :: t) . f (f x) (where "/\" is an upper case Greek lambda and "(v :: T)" is usually written as v with subscript T). The parameter t will be bound to the type to which twice is applied, e.g.: twice Int takes and returns a function of type Int -> Int. (Actual type arguments are often written in square brackets [ ]). Function twice itself has a higher type: twice :: Delta t . (t -> t) -> (t -> t) (where Delta is an upper case Greek delta). Thus /\ introduces an object which is a function of a type and Delta introduces a type which is a function of a type. Polymorphic lambda-calculus was invented by Jean-Yves Girard in 1971 and independently by John C. Reynolds in 1974.
portable scheme interpreter — (PSI) A portable scheme interpreter by Ozan Yigit <[email protected]>, David Keldsen and Pontus Hedman that includes a simple DAG compiler and a virtual machine. It can be used as an integrated extension interpreter in other systems and allows easy addition of new primitives. There are some unique debugging and tracing facilities. Acceptable performance results from a fairly straight-forward implementation. Continuations are fully and portably supported and perform well. PSI is based on the simple compilers and virtual machine in Kent Dbyvig's thesis. The pre-release version conforms to R4RS with a number of useful extensions.
pour oil on troubled waters — any of a large class of substances typically unctuous, viscous, combustible, liquid at ordinary temperatures, and soluble in ether or alcohol but not in water: used for anointing, perfuming, lubricating, illuminating, heating, etc.
press/push the right button — If you say that someone presses the right button or pushes the right button, you mean that they get what they want from a particular situation or person by behaving in a clever way.
product liability insurance — Product liability insurance is insurance for a producer or supplier of goods against injury to third parties or loss of or damage to their property that is caused by a fault in the goods.
public broadcasting service — a network of independent, noncommercial television stations that operate with public and government funding instead of with revenues from advertising. Abbreviation: PBS.
public service broadcasting — publicly-funded broadcasting
public works administration — the U.S. federal agency (1933–44) that instituted and administered projects for the construction of public works. Abbreviation: PWA, P.W.A.
republic of the philippines — a republic in SE Asia, occupying an archipelago of about 7100 islands (including Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, and Negros): became a Spanish colony in 1571 but ceded to the US in 1898 after the Spanish-American War; gained independence in 1946. The islands are generally mountainous and volcanic. Official languages: Filipino, based on Tagalog, and English. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: peso. Capital: Manila. Pop: 105 720 644 (2013 est). Area: 300 076 sq km (115 860 sq miles)
rise/raise sb from the dead — When Christians say that Jesus Christ rose from the dead or raised someone from the dead, they mean that Jesus came back to life after he had died, or brought a dead person back to life.
say what you like about sth — You use 'Say what you like about someone or something' when you are about to mention one good thing about a person or thing that many people do not like.
scalable coherent interface — (hardware, protocol) (SCI) The ANSI/IEEE 1596-1992 standard that defines a point-to-point interface and a set of packet protocols. The SCI protocols use packets with a 16-byte header and 16, 64, or 256 data bytes. Each packet is protected by a 16-bit CRC code. The standard defines 1 Gbit/second serial fiber-optic links and 1 Gbyte/second parallel copper links. SCI has two unidirectional links that operate concurrently. The SCI protocols support shared memory by encapsulating bus requests and responses into SCI request and response packets. Packet-based handshake protocols guarantee reliable data delivery. A set of cache coherence protocols are defined to maintain cache coherence in a shared memory system. SCI uses 64-bit addressing and the most significant 16 bits are used for addressing up to 64K nodes.
symbol manipulation program — (SMP) Steven Wolfram's earlier symbol manipulation program, before he turned to Mathematica.
take the bit in one's teeth — to undertake a task with determination
the buck stops here/with me — If you say 'The buck stops here' or 'The buck stops with me', you mean that you have to take responsibility for something and will not try to pass the responsibility on to someone else.
the forest of fontainebleau — a forest in N France, where the town of Fontainebleau is located
the odds are in sb's favour — If you say that the odds are in someone's favour, you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing.
to be bursting at the seams — to be very full
to breathe a sigh of relief — If people breathe or heave a sigh of relief, they feel happy that something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening.
to build up a head of steam — to develop power
to cast pearls before swine — If you say that someone is casting pearls before swine, you mean that they are wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.
to go into the record books — to achieve one of the best results that have ever been achieved in a particular sport or activity, for example the fastest time, the furthest distance, or the greatest number of victories
to know something backwards — In British English, if you say that someone knows something backwards, you are emphasizing that they know it very well. In American English, you say that someone knows something backward and forward.
to nip something in the bud — If you nip something such as bad behaviour in the bud, you stop it before it can develop very far.
to rub someone's nose in it — To rub someone's nose in something that they do not want to think about, such as a failing or a mistake they have made, means to remind them repeatedly about it.
to rule sb with a high hand — to behave imperiously towards someone
to take someone by surprise — If something takes you by surprise, it happens when you are not expecting it or when you are not prepared for it.
to the best of your ability — as well as you can
two shakes of a lamb's tail — to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
what sb is (going) on about — If you ask someone what they are on about or what they are going on about, you are puzzled because you cannot understand what they are talking about.
with one's back to the wall — in a difficult or desperate situation
you can't have it both ways — If someone says that you can't have it both ways, they are telling you that you have to choose between two things and cannot do or have them both.

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